Piano bench and hardware



PIANO BENCH AND HARDWARE Filed May 27, 1922 Patented Nov. is, 1924.

JOHN L. D'ULIN, F NOBLESVILIJE", INDIANA.

IIANO BENCH AND HARDWARE.

Application filed May 27, 1922. Serial No. 564,230.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN L. DULIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Noblesville, in the county of Hamilton and a State of Indiana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Piano Benches and Hardware, of which the following is a specification.

Piano benches are subjected to more racking strain than ordinary seats because they are frequently occupied by two players and the players occupying it, whether singly or in pairs lean from one side to the other in reaching the keys of the piano.

The object of this invention is to strengthen those joints which are subjected to the greatest strain by applying metal reinforcements thereto, and a further object is to cheapen the cost of hardware and reduce the labor of applying same, by forming the reinforcing metal integrally with the usual hinge and fastener hardware.

I accomplish the above, and other objects which will hereinafter appear, by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1, is a view in side elevation of a music bench made in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2, is a top plan view of the bench with the seat removed, and Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views of the dowelplates.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in the several views of the drawing.

The embodiment of my invention here shown comprises four vertical legs 1, 2, 3 and 4. The legs 1 and 2 form a pair which are joined together by a side beam 5, and the legs 3 and 4 comprise a second pair 0 joined together by the side beam 6. The legs 1 and 3 are connected by an end beam 7 and the legs 2 and 4 are connected by an end beam 8, and there will preferably be a bottom 9 under all the beams 5, 6, '7 and 8 to 4 form a sheet music holding receptacle. The

legs are offset beyond the connecting members.

A seatboard 10 rests upon the four legs and their connecting beams and preferably projects all around to give a proper and suitable finish to the bench. This seatboa'rd .is movably secured to the side beam 5 by means of leaf hinges, as shown, comprising for each pair of hinges a leaf 12 which is fastened to the side beam 5 by screws 18,

and a leaf 14 which is fastened to the seatboard 10 by screws in the usual manner. The pintles of the hinges are between the planes through the outer faces of the legs adjacent the hinges and the outer faces of the member connecting said legs. The leaves 12 have tongue-extensions 16 which cross the adjacent joints between the side beam 5 and the respective legs 1 and 2 and extend sufiiciently far across the legs to provide a firm anchorage into the legs for screws 17 passing through tongue 16.

Metal plates 18 cross the joints between the side beams 6 and the legs 3 and 4 in the manner shown in Fig. 2 and the ends of the plates are secured to the underlying wooden members of the bench by screws 17. Formed in each plate 18 is a socket hole 20 through which the dowel-pin 21 on a plate 22 passes. The plate 22 is fastened by means of screws to the underside of the seat board 10 in right position to register the dowel-pin in the socket-hole 20 when the seatboard is in its closed position.

It will thus appear that the joints between the side beam 5 and legs 1 and 2, and between the side beam 6, and legs 3 and 4 are tied together in a manner to keep the joints from opening in the use of the bench, and that these reinforcing members are made and applied at a minimum of cost for material and labor. The legs are offset from their connecting members on the hinge side of the bench to bring the hinge pintles be tween the plane through the outer sides of the legs and of the outer side of their connecting member. The leg offsets thus help to close the gap between the raised lid and the bench thereby improving the appearance of the article, and the leg offsets also support the raised lid and prevent it from bending or loosening the hinges by its weight.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. A piano-bench body having vertical corner legs and connecting frame members jointed thereto, and a lid, in combination with hinges attached to one of the connecting frame members and to the lid and having extensions crossing the joint and attached to the adjacent leg, plates crossing each joint between the opposite frame memher and its adjacent legs, each plate being attached to the frame member and to a leg of said leg-connecting members and the other leai attached to the lid. and having the pintle of the hinge located between the plane of the outer faces of the adjacent legs and the plane of the outer race of said connecting member, and the leaves attached to the leg-connecting member having a plateextension crossing the joint between that connecting member and adjacent leg and attached lo eaid leg. dowel-plates on the other leg connecting member extending across each joint andv fastened to the connecting member and legs, and dowels in the lid seated in the dowel plates when the lid is closed.

Signed at Noblesville, Indiana. this the 15 day of April, 1922.

JOHN L. DULIN. 

